


Redemption

by VeronicaFerCard



Series: Aftermaths of War [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 01:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8080651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeronicaFerCard/pseuds/VeronicaFerCard
Summary: Tony goes to Wakanda to kill Bucky, instead, something different happens.All the while, Steve takes full responsibility for everything that happened and goes to trial.Bucky gets a new arm somewhere along the way.





	1. Chapter 1

After a rather uncomfortable encounter with the Dora Milaje, Tony was finally led to the medical center where Barnes was being kept.  And after some persuasion, and a very throughout body search for any weapons – Steve had been right, they wouldn’t just let him put Barnes out of his misery – the doctors left him alone – as alone as he could get with all the cameras and the glass walls –with Barnes.

The first thing Tony noticed – because he would have to be blind not to, since it was in the center of the room – was the Snow White vertical coffin hooked up to like a dozen computers, where his parent’s killer took his fucking nap.

Tony stared at Barnes’ frozen form. He looked completely different from the last time Tony had seen him. No blood all over, no black, intimidating outfit – the opposite, actually. The white clothes made him look innocent. Tony hated it. – and no metal arm.

Tony looked at his face again. _Fuck._ Barnes looked so young. And God! He was, wasn’t he? He was younger than Tony, all things considered, and ugh. No. Not going down that road. He was here on a mission.

And of course, that was when Tony’s traitor eyes went back to what was left of Barnes’ left limb. The one Tony had blown off. _Oh, God!_ He had blown off someone’s arm. And, sure, it was metal, but it was still someone’s arm. _Jesus_. Tony blew _someone’s arm off_!

He was on his knees, retching bile, and his lunch on a wastebasket before he knew it.

“Fuck you, conscience,” he moaned after cleaning his mouth with the back of his hand. “Not the time.”

The door behind him slid open and close while Tony got back to his feet.

“Need a medic, Mr. Stark?”

Tony turned around to face T’challa. “You’re highness.” He cocked his head towards Barnes. “Need you to wake him up.”

“So that you can look at his eyes while you kill him?” T’challa smirked and shook his head; apparently, whatever he saw on Tony’s face was amusing. “He left you a letter,” he announced, stepping forward and handing Tony the simple, white envelope on his hand. “Captain Rogers has also asked me to forward an apology.”

“Yeah, he told me,” Tony said dismissively as he took the letter.

Unlike Steve’s, there was nothing written on the outside. Tony snorted. Those forties’ people and their letters. Frankly, Tony was done with it. He bowed a little at T’challa, “With all due respect.” And ripped the envelope in half, throwing it in the trash with his vomit.

The amusement left the king’s eyes but the smirk was still there. It looked deadly, but Tony was too annoyed to care.

“You should know, Mr. Stark,” T’challa began, calmly as he if he had all the time in the world. “Any attempt on Mr. Barnes’ life and you’ll leave here without yours.”

He put his hands in his pockets as if he had not just threatened to kill Tony. To protect Barnes. What?

“I’m sorry.” Tony placed his right hand over his chest, throwing T’challa his best confused look. “Weren’t you the one trying to kill him last week?”

T’challa sighed, the smile finally gone from his face. “Mr. Stark.” Oh, Tony knew that tone. It was the tone Pepper used on him when her patience with him was wearing thin, which was to say, whenever he appeared in front of her. Tony braced himself for the lecture. “Talk to him.”

“He didn’t kill your father. He killed mine. I literally watched—”

“You watched one video,” T’challa interrupted him. “Would you like to see the rest? I made copies while you and Rogers tried to kill each other instead of going after the confessed killer.”

“I went after the confessed killer.” Tony pointed behind himself. “He’s right there in your fridge.”

T’challa sighed again – Tony had that effect on people – then he walked over to one of the computers and began to type a series of codes. “It will take a while.” A sound came from the glass coffin but, when Tony looked at it, Barnes was still asleep. “If you touch him, Mr. Stark, you’ll regret it. I mean it.”

Tony scoffed. “Yeah, fine. You joined Rogers on the fan club, I get it.” It wasn’t like he had _really_ thought he would just walk in and shoot Barnes without consequences. Well… a little part of him did, but yeah. Ok. He wasn’t naïve. He could probably get an extradition, though. He should have brought a lawyer. Or Pepper. He should have called Pepper.

T’challa finished typing and walked over to the door, opening it but making no move to leave. “I’ll let you know when you can meet him.”

Tony could have argued. He could have come with a dozen come backs; but what would be the fucking point, anyways?

He walked passed T’challa with his head held high. “What do you do for fun around here? Where do you keep the cool toys? All the Vibranium…” he sighed dreamily. “What do you use it for, mostly?”

“Ah, let me see.” T’challa made a show of looking up as if he had to think hard on it. “Certainly not for Frisbee,” he arched an eyebrow, “And definitely not to build maniac robots.”

Tony snorted.

“You’re no fun.”

-

Tony was only allowed to see Barnes the next day.

He spent the night in a room that could have given any five-star hotel a run for its money, staring at his phone and contemplating the pros and cons of calling Pepper. He could pretend he was drunk dialing her; it wasn’t as if her opinion of him could get any lower.

In the end, he didn’t do it, though. He slept for about four hours and then someone was knocking on his door and escorting him for breakfast with royalty.

Yep! Plaza got nothing on the Wakandan Palace.

Thankfully, T’challa was busy enough he didn’t have to pretend he and Tony had anything to talk about; not that Tony couldn’t have found a subject. Man, he took a pick at his Majesty’s science division yesterday, after seeing Barnes, and Tony saw a couple of things that were at the very least five years in advance from anything he had seen out there.

But alas, T’challa didn’t have time for him, and frankly, Tony was starting to get restless. He hadn’t checked the news yet, and part of him was dying to know what was happening to Cap. Well, Rogers. Tony supposed Steve wasn’t Captain America anymore, or maybe he just gave up the shield. His new friend could certainly provide him with a whole lot if he wanted. That was probably the case. Of course, Steve was still Captain America.

Anyhow, after breakfast another employee led Tony to another part of the palace, through a long corridor that ended in another set of apartments like the one Tony had spent the night in.

They stopped at the last door and the man knocked three times before stepping away. Tony had a feeling he would stay right there until Tony came out, and would also come in if he heard any sound of fighting or something.

Whatever.

The door opened before Tony could contemplate on it any longer, and then he was facing the Winter Soldier… but not really. The man shifted on his feet – which were bare – looking uncomfortable as he avoided Tony’s eyes.

Tony was looking at Bucky Barnes.

After a few long seconds, Barnes finally stepped aside and Tony made a point of closing the door on his babysitter’s face as he entered the room.

It looked exactly like his, except all the pillows were on the floor, next to the wall under the window.

“I didn’t read your letter, before you ask,” Tony began, turning away from the makeshift bed. “I don’t care what you have to say.”

Then, out of fucking _nowhere_ – Tony would swear to Michael Jackson to his dying day – there was a gun on Barnes’s hand. Tony didn’t even have the time to fear for his life, though. The next thing he knew the gun was on _his_ hand, his finger on the trigger and the muzzle pressed tightly to Barnes’ forehead.

“Be done with it,” he ordered; his voice calm and even. He wasn’t even shaking.

And Tony? He was sweating like a pig under his clothes, despite the perfectly functioning AC above their heads.

_All I know is that, if you come for him, he doesn’t want them to get in the way._

Steve’s words came to him and, suddenly, Tony wasn’t so sure the man outside the door would interfere. And at the back of his mind, he could see it. He could picture Barnes with a hole between his eyes. Tony could picture himself telling the story to his parents’ graves, how he brought them justice.

His finger shook slightly on the trigger.

Barnes took a deep breath, but otherwise kept perfectly still.

Tony looked him in the eyes. Barnes’ had shot him point blank too, the gauntlet saving his life by mere seconds. It would be almost poetic.

Tony lowered the gun.

He couldn’t do it.

“ _Fuck!_ Fuck this fucking shit, _fuck_!” He clicked the safety back on – how had Barnes even? – and tossed the gun on the bed. Feeling as if he had just run a marathon, Tony bent over to rest his hand on his knee.

He was _not_ having a panic attack over this. He was not! He just… had to control his breathing. Slow ins and outs. Deep breaths. Picture some waterfalls and shit.

“Asthma?” Barnes mumbled uncertainly in front of him.

When Tony finally straightened up and looked at Barnes, he could not, for the life of him, understand what he was seeing. The man seemed genuine, one hundred percent, concerned about Tony’s state. What. The. Hell.

It took him a few minutes to catch up with what Barnes had said. “What? No – that’s not –” He shook his head, trying to clear it. “I don’t have asthma, I have anxiety. Panic attacks and – things.” Tony waved his hand to encompass all he meant.

Barnes cocked his head to the side like a curious dog. “Is that the name for when you can’t breathe and feels like you’re dying sometimes?”

“Like you’re having a heart attack?” Tony asked and Barnes nodded. “Yep,” he confirmed, “those are the bastards.” And then more tentatively, “You have them?”

Barnes nodded again. “After I ran away,” he explained. “It happened every day for a year.”

 _Good Jesus, and you’re alive?_ Tony thought, but instead, he said, “Must’ve been a shitty year.”

“Yeah,” Barnes agreed. His eyes traveled around the room until they stopped on the gun on the bed. “You’re not gonna kill me?”

Tony thought about it for a few seconds, and after reaching no conclusion he shrugged. “Don’t know yet. Would you kill you?” Tony asked, but then, just in case Barnes mistook what he said for suicide, he added, “If you were in my place.”

Barnes took a long time to say nothing at all, so Tony changed the question.

“Would you kill Steve if roles were reversed?”

And _that_ did it. Barnes’ eyes were suddenly huge. He shook his head vigorously “No, never.”

Tony arched an eyebrow, admittedly enjoying Barnes’ discomfort more than he would if had just shot him. “Why?” he prodded, “Considering he was the Winter Captain.”

“Cause he’s innocent! He didn’t ask for any of this.” Barnes was getting more and more agitated. Mixing Steve’s title with his clearly did a number on him. Funny enough – or not funny at all if you weren’t Tony – he could see Barnes wasn’t getting murdery crazy, but rather desperate kid crazy; which was more disturbing than funny, but okay. “I didn’t ask for any of this!” Barnes finally let out in a shout.

Tony wanted to give him some smarty come back, to scream back that he didn’t care, but he was looking directly into Barnes’s eyes and he could barely breathe again.

Barnes sagged; all energy seemed to have run out of him as he sat on the bed. “I never asked for this to happen,” he mumbled again under his breath, so softly Tony almost missed. “No one’s ever asked what I wanted.”

And yeah, Tony knew that. He’d done his homework. He knew Barnes had been drafted. And the rest… well, Tony guessed it wasn’t much like HYDRA’s style to ask for someone’s opinion before doing, well, pretty much whatever they wanted. So yeah, no choices for Barnes.

“What _do_ you want?” The words were out before Tony could control his stupid brain to mouth filter. Curiosity was going to get him killed one day; he just knew it.

Barnes sighed heavily and for a moment, Tony thought he wasn’t going to get an answer. And really, if his thoughts had been any louder he’d have missed the soft whisper.

“I wanna go home.” Tony quickly looked away, pretending he didn’t see when Barnes’ hand wiped at his eyes. “An apartment in Brooklyn, me an’ Stevie can even have our own bedrooms now, I guess. Cold ain’t gonna bother him no more.” He shrugged. “And maybe, if – if Steve don’t get a girl. Maybe we grow old together.”

Tony arched an eyebrow, which Barnes didn’t see because he was too busy staring longingly at the floor. 

"What about you? No girls for you... or boys?" Because the situation wasn’t already ridiculous enough, why not throw in Barnes’ love life. Since Tony wasn’t going to kill him right now he might as well get some juicy gossip. Was it still gossip if you only knew about it almost a century later? Oh well, who was counting, anyway?

And Barnes – oh, boy – Barnes went completely pale, and Tony was half afraid he was either going to pass out on him or finally snap and try to kill him.

He did neither.

"I… I don't." He looked around, checking if they were alone, even though the door was closed. "Please," Barnes begged, finally looking up at Tony with pleading eyes. Tony gulped, he didn’t like how those eyes made him feel. To be honest, he was starting to miss the murder glare; _that_ he could deal with.

It took Tony's brain a moment to get with the program, but then he gasped. "Oh. My. God." Was the first thing out of his mouth because yeah, he had suspected. Steve's fucking blind devotion for someone who wasn't actually family and ok, Tony knew one could choose family, but there was something else there. Then another, awful realization hit him. "You don't kno... Nobody told –"

If possible, Barnes went even paler.

Tony shook his head. "Christ! Ok look," he fished his phone out of his pocket, ignoring all his instincts as he sat down next to Barnes. And, because he couldn't think straight (ha!), he typed the first thing that came to mind, which obviously was 'gay marriage' and shoved the mobile on Barnes's slightly shaky hand.

"What's this?" Barnes asked holding the phone _a little_ too tightly and staring at Google Images as if it were about to bite him. Tony knew he wasn’t talking about the smartphone and, for once, he didn’t try to joke his way around it… like he would have done it with Steve.

"Totally okay now,” he explained, pointing at the picture of two guys in suits kissing in front of a big pride flag. “I mean, there are still assholes, but I doubt anyone is gonna attack _you_ about it.”

Homophobes were stupid, but Tony didn’t think they were downright suicidal to pick a fight with the Winter Solder about his sexual preferences.

Barnes glanced up at him with wide eyes, and yeah, Tony was not prepared for that. He had come here to _do business,_ goddamn it! He came here to confront this man and atone for his parent’s deaths. Not to do… whatever was happening. He certainly hadn’t come to be Barnes’ therapist.

What kind of stupid joke was his life anyway?

“It’s legal?”

“First,” Tony raised a finger, “stop looking at me like I’ve just invented fire. Second, close your mouth.” Barnes’ mouth snapped shut and it would have been satisfying if Tony’s brain hadn’t done him the favor of reminding him why it was so easy for Barnes to follow orders. Then Tony just felt gross. “And finally, yeah. There’s still a lot of places where you won’t be getting married any time soon, and also some extreme ones where you just _can’t_ leave Narnia, but mostly, you’re good. Do whatever, as long as your partner’s legal too.”

Barnes blinked slowly at him and Tony was seriously considering if he should ask one of the doctors about brain damage. Then Barnes nodded, mostly to himself, and finally looked back at him with hope all over his face.

“Where’s Steve?”

Fuck.

So much for Tony’s Inigo Montoya moment.


	2. Chapter 2

After his talk with Barnes, and letting T’challa break the news about Steve’s whereabouts –because yeah, he was so not touching that can of worms – Tony had asked the king if he could watch the Winter Soldier tapes T’challa had told him about.

Tony had had all intention to watch the whole footage. He still had to decide it he was going to kill Barnes or not, and a very stupid part of him thought that might help with his decision. _Oh boy,_ was he wrong.

 Tony didn’t make to half of the first video.

He’d seen Barnes kill his parents, he’d seen Barnes kill his parents, he’d seen Barn – Tony repeated the mantra as he tossed  and turned around on his bed throughout that night, while simultaneously trying to erase from his memory the images of James Barnes being stripped of his humanity. It didn’t help. Those thirty six minutes would haunt him for the rest of his life.

When the sun rose he was already off the bed. He’d found a notepad on his nightstand and began to sketch. By the time T’challa’s royal service came to invite him for breakfast there were already three different designs of a left arm on the paper.

-

He didn’t say anything about the arm to either T’challa or Barnes, but the next time Tony saw the latter he decided to address another elephant on Barnes’ room.

Tony found him in the garden outside the palace. The place had a _lot_ of gardens. This one was just plain grass though. Was that even considered a garden? Tony would have to ask.

Barnes was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed.

“Meditating, Robocop?” Tony asked as he sat down next to him.

Barnes opened his eyes and arched an eyebrow. “Was.” Tony could see he was fighting hard to suppress a sigh. Good. “Need something?” Barnes asked after Tony didn’t say anything.

“You still have the triggers, don’t you?” Tony said, bluntly. “That’s why you went all Interstellar Matt Damon on the cryo freeze.”

Barnes frowned at him. “I think I got about forty percent of that.”

“Good enough,” Tony shrugged. “If you want to remain living – though I’m still not sure if _I_ want you to – you should probably work on that.”

Surprisingly, Barnes snorted. “Tell me the news, pal. I don’t know how to get this stuff out.” He tapped the side of his head and sighed. “I want that more than anything.”

Tony contemplated a little before speaking, "Ok, can you tell me the words?"

"I don't know?"

"You don't know the words?"

"I do, but I don't know what happens if I say them."

"Okie dokie,” Tony clapped his hands, “let's try it," he said as he got to his feet. “Come on,” he urged, but Barnes eyed him with suspicious for a full minute before he sighed and got up as well.

They walked inside, and after some persuasion, a member of the royal staff showed them to one of the reinforced rooms in the science department. All the while Barnes looked at Tony as if he had just grown another head. Tony checked. Nope, not HYDRA.

"I'll just be outside," he announced after Barnes stepped inside and the staff member had again, reluctantly, left them alone.

Barnes nodded and waited until Tony closed the door behind himself to start mumbling the words. Tony watched from the glass window. By the third word, Barnes was shaking like a leaf. He passed out before he could utter the seventh.

"Ok so, you can't activate yourself," Tony announced half an hour later when Barnes woke up, disoriented and still on the shaky side. It made sense; the whole point of the activation words was to control the Winter Soldier. HYDRA spent decades to take that control from Barnes; of course, they would make sure he couldn't get it back.

Barnes told him that there had been a book with all the information the Winter Soldier, but the fake shrink had probably burned it. And of course, the words had most definitely been recorded on the videos, but Tony was not touching those if he could help it.

"Right, here's what we're gonna do." He took the notepad and a pen from his pocket and scribbled the numbers from one to ten on a clean page. "These are all random, so my guess is that the secret it's in the order. So you're just gonna tell them as I call it. Get it?" Barnes nodded, looking a little more stable. "Alright. What's word number seven?"

Tony soon realized the flaw in his plan. “What the fuck was that?” Barnes repeated the word. “What?”

“It’s Russian.”

“Of course it is.” Tony fished his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he was looking for. “Cross your fingers,” he told Barnes, who just frowned at him. Thankfully, Tony didn’t need his mojo and Natasha picked up after the fourth ring.

“I won’t help you kill Barnes,” she greeted him.

Tony snorted. “Of course not, you’ll help me save him.”

-

With the words in hand and their translation, Tony was able to move on with his plan.

“Okay, Terminator. I got homework for you. You’re going to say these words—”

“Weren’t you listening? I just—”

“Calm the fuck down, and let me explain.” He made a point of waiting until Barnes physically closed his mouth. “You’re going to say these words,” he repeated, “one at a time. A thousand times each.” Tony raised his hand to stop the impending protest from Barnes. “Listen, have you tried repeating the same words over and over? I guess not. It loses all its meaning. Look,” he grabbed his pen to demonstrate. “Pen, pen, pen, pen, pen, pen…”

Tony was surprised Barnes let him go on for almost two minutes, but to be honest, he looked at bit glass eyed by that mark.

“What’s a pen?” Tony asked.

Barnes blinked at him. “What?”

“See.” Barnes nodded slowly, and by the look on his face, Tony was starting to fear he might have accidentally hypnotized him. He snapped his fingers on Barnes’ eye level just to be sure.

“Fine,” Barnes finally conceded. “I see your point.”

-

Somehow Tony ended up moving to the same corridor as Barnes. Weirdly enough he had a lot of clothes for someone who had literally just come to kill a man and be done with it.

No, wait. Those clothes were actually his. He recognized the almost invisible stain on the inside of a jacket just the other day. He was going to ask T’challa if he had called the Tower and asked them to send some of Tony’s clothes, but really, there was only one person who’d know what to pick.

And surely, there it was, on the bottom of the suitcase Tony had most definitely not brought with him. A Post-It.

_I thought you might need these – P_

It was all Tony could do not to fall to his knees and cry like a newborn. In reality, Barnes found him lying in a semi-fetal position on the bed.

“Are you dying?” He asked, entering the room without knocking because he had probably been raised in a barn. And that was actually how he got his last name like Smiths were Smiths because they worked as smiths.

Also, the door was open.

“Wouldn’t you like that?” Tony shot back, as he got up and sat with his back against the headboard. “What do you want?”

Barnes shifted on the ball of his feet, looking as uncomfortable as a pair of tight shoes. He avoided Tony’s gaze as he spoke. “You should lock your door.”

“Seriously,” Tony snorted. “You’re threatening me?”

This time Barnes’ eyes locked into his as his head shot up. “No, no. I’m saying –” he hesitated, averting his gaze again. Then he inhaled sharply and glanced back at Tony. “I’m starting on the first word tonight,” he clarified. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but even if you hear anything – don’t come. Please.”

He left before Tony could ask him to elaborate, but there was no need to. Two hours later and Tony understood what he had been talking about. Barnes screamed for almost a whole hour that night.

For once Tony did as he was told and stayed in his bedroom. He stared at the ceiling as he tried to tune Barnes off. Tony was started to think that maybe he should give Wanda a call, which was an option he knew he didn’t have because, the last time they saw each other, Tony had put her in a straightjacket and that tended to put a damper on things.

Wanda would turn his mind into pudding before he could explain the favor was actually for team Cap.

But morning came at last – oh, praised be – and instead of the usual employee coming to collect him for breakfast, Tony was greeted by Barnes himself when he answered the door.

“желание, желание, желание,” he grinned, “Say желание.”

“Shi-lan-nye,” Tony tried out. Barnes shook his head, still grinned. And at the back of his mind, a part of Tony couldn’t help but notice it was the first time he’d done it since Tony met him. He ignored the weird feeling in his gut and tried again. “Shin-lan-ye. желание.”

Barnes lit up like a stupid Christmas tree “That’s it, say it again.”

Tony repeated the word for the next twenty minutes. Barnes didn’t twitch a muscle.

“Great,” Tony drawled sarcastically. “Now we just have nine more sleepless nights to go.”

To his absolute horror, Barnes brought his hand down on his shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t worry, pal,” he smirked and Tony had to suppress a shudder. “We’ll make it.”

-

The bags under Tony’s eyes had their own social security number by the time they reached the tenth day. During that time Tony had dialed Pepper’s number for over a dozen times, he always chickened out in the end, though.

On the night of the eighth word, however, Tony had been so drunk he sent her an email, which he only discover during lunch the next day because she replied to him.

 **From:** [stark.t@starkenterprises.com](mailto:stark.t@starkenterprises.com)

 **To:** [pottsvirginia@starkenterprises.com](mailto:pottsvirginia@starkenterprises.com)

 **Subject:** Brns os scrym adn cryng hs nice tho,,, I thkin I lke him not deadd

 **From:** [pottsvirginia@starkenterprises.com](mailto:pottsvirginia@starkenterprises.com)

 **To:** [stark.t@starkenterprises.com](mailto:stark.t@starkenterprises.com)

 **Subject:** Re: Brns os scrym adn cryng hs nice tho,,, I thkin I lke him not deadd

 

> How are you?

Tony had spent almost two hours contemplating on how to answer that. Barnes watched as he paced the length of his room over and over for the last forty minutes.

“She your dame?” He had asked after Tony summarized – and by that he meant told in great length and detail – what had happened.

“At this point? I don’t even know.” Tony stopped to pull on his hair. “What do I do?” He was asking romantic advice for the man who orphaned him. What the ever living fuck was his life?

“She asked you how you doing, answer her.” Barnes shrugged like that was so simple. The nerve of him! But then he added quietly, “Do you think she knows about Steve?”

And Tony could have kissed Barnes right then, except no, he really couldn’t. But that was the perfect excuse to send a message. Aside from, you know, answering her question like a tool.

He ended up replying her by the end of the afternoon, saying that things were weird but not life threatening – he didn’t comment on his drunken confession about Barnes – and asked her if she knew of Steve, not that Tony cared, but Barnes did.

Pepper had replied to him with a smiley face and a _no word on cap_. Tony counted it as progress, even if Barnes sulked about the lack of Steve news.

That had been the end of their communication but Tony couldn’t help but to feel a little something that looked a lot like hope beginning to stir inside of him.

Two days later Barnes was done with his assignment and it was time for the final test.

“You’re ready?” T’challa asked. Barnes had thought it would be a good idea to have him there in case things went to shit. And the king stood now in full Black Panther costume in front of them; even if Barnes was on the other side of the glass window, in the reinforced room.

He nodded and Tony, who by this point was basically a Russian master – he could introduce himself, order a beer and command an assassin by then – began to recite.

It didn’t work.

Barnes was dead-eyed by the time he finished. Tony couldn’t help but feel crushed. And he didn’t even have any sarcastic comment about it.

“What happens now?” T’challa asked.

Tony sighed, remembering Barnes’ instructions for this. “We gotta knock him out.”

Barnes was as crushed as Tony when he woke up, though much more resilient. He was ready to try again as soon as he was up.

They had to try again a lot.

Barnes fought so hard, it was – really, Tony had no other word for it – he was impressed. T’challa had assembled a team of doctor and scientist to study Barnes’ brain, but that didn’t help all that much. Every time they got close to Barnes, Tony could see he made an effort to stay still, but he was always on the verge of hyperventilating.

He had a full on panic attack when they put him on the MRI machine.

Tony couldn’t help but thinking that had to be a better way to map his brain. If only Tony had JARVIS… Oh god, he was such a moron!

Friday.

Tony activated her on his phone, and he couldn’t tell if it was his imagination, or if she really was pissed about being neglected for such a long time. At least she wasn’t sentient enough to refuse to help him.

It took him a whole afternoon to find a way to use a couple of tablets as a magnet to scan Barnes’ head. The thing was a lot more rudimentary than T’challa’ machine, but it was completely panic proof. All Barnes had to do was stand still – and he was eerily good at that – while two doctors circulated around him for a few minutes.

It didn’t do much in the end though. All they discovered was that his brain had been regenerating itself and it was well on its merry way to full recovery. Physically, that is.

Barnes was completely drained when they finally decided to call it a day. Tony found him sitting cross-legged by the river behind the palace. There wasn’t a lot of light but he could still see the dark circles under Barnes’ eyes. His shoulders were hunched forward. Tony could see he the strong resolve from a few days ago was starting to crumble.

“Hey, uh,” Tony called as he dropped down next to him. “There’s uh, always tomorrow and all that.” Peep talk was really not his forte.

“I used to dance, you know,” Barnes confessed out of nowhere after a few moments of silence. Tony kept his mouth shut for once. If spouting random facts about himself helped Barnes, Tony would listen to him.  “I used to love it. Tried to teach Steve a dozen times.” There was a hint of a smile on his face, but it was there and gone the next time Tony blinked. “It’s good that he never learned. Made it easier to push it down every time I wanted to do it in public.”

He stared at the water for a few seconds. Tony took the opportunity to look up. The sky was clear and full of stars. Tony couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen so many.

“If –” Barnes hesitated slightly. Tony kept watching the sky, but he turned his head just so, so that it was clear he was still paying attention. “ _When_ ,” Barnes continued, “I get this shit outta my head I’m gonna do it. You said it’s okay now, right?” Tony glanced at him, not following. “Two fellas?” Barnes explained.

“Oh, yeah sure,” Tony nodded.

“Yeah, I’m gonna drag Steve to whatever it is that people go dancing these days, and I’m gonna dance with him all damn night. Don’t even care if my feet are blue from his stepping all over it.” He let out a long sigh. Tony’s heart was squeezing itself in his chest. For all he knew Barnes should be either homicidal or rocking-back-and-forth, drooling all over _gone_. And there he was next to Tony, completely functional.

And he wanted to go _dancing_.

Tony didn’t know what prompted him, but the next thing he knew he was standing up, offering a hand for Barnes to do the same. “Let’s try one more time.” Barnes was already shaking his head, but just this time Tony wasn’t abiding his wishes.

Steve would probably clock him if he were here.

“Just one more time,” he promised as they walked back to the reinforced room. Barnes followed him reluctantly and Tony locked him there like they did all the other times. There was a computer on the desk outside the room. Tony booted it up. He checked to see if it was connected to the sound system inside the room. _Jackpot!_ It was. “What’s your favorite song?”

Barnes frowned at him. “What the hell are you doing?”

Tony huffed. “Just answer the goddamn question for once.”

Barnes rolled his eyes, but if Tony didn’t know any better he would say Barnes was blushing. “You Are My Sunshine,” he mumbled under his breath.

Tony snorted a short laugh. “Of course it is.” He shook his head amused and completely ignored Barnes’ trademarked murder glare, while he googled the song. “Now look,” he started to explain once he found the original version. “We’re going to reroute your triggers into something positive.”

“How?”

“The same way they made it stick the first time,” Tony wasn’t really sure. “I guess.” Barnes tensed at that and he tried to clarify it better. “Only without the torture. But the principle is the same. It’s all about the stimuli.”

“English Stark?” Barnes brought his arm up. Tony realized a second too late he’d meant to cross it over his chest, only it was awkward because he only had the one. Tony averted his eyes as Barnes lowered his arms back to his side embarrassed.

“We’re going to make you associate the triggers with good memories,” Tony simplified. “I’m going to say the first one and you’re going to talk about any good thing you can think about revolving that. _Capiche_?

“And the song?”

Tony shrugged. He was playing by ear, hoping Barnes wouldn’t realize he had no idea what he was doing. “I’ve always enjoyed the idea of a life with soundtrack.” Tony hit play with a smirk on his face.

_The other night dear, as I lay sleeping._

“желание,” Tony started. Barnes wasn’t even shaking, he had mastered that one already, but Tony supposed it could work as a warm up so he prompted. “Tell me something about longing?”

“I used to feel a lot of it, ‘fore Steve an’ I, you know.” He smiled softly, completely lost in memories. “Then he kissed me.”

“Good,” Tony nodded. Not wanting to lose track of the experiment, he continued, “ржaвый.”

-

By the time they got to the last one – two, actually, but who was counting – Barnes was kneeling on the floor, trying to keep his balance with his one hand, but he was still himself.

“грузовой вагон.”

“I – the –” Barnes was trembling like a leaf in a tornado. Blood had been coming down from his nose for the past twelve minutes. Tony played the song a little louder every time he felt Barnes was about to slip.

“Come on, Barnes,” Tony coaxed. He was sweating all over too. He wiped his forehead on the sleeve of his t-shirt. “Tell me about freight cars.” Barnes blinked away a few tears. “Come on, Barnes,” Tony tried again a bit my urgently. “You can do this. You can do this.”

“There was a – there was –” He shook his head so hard he almost fell on his side. “Not a freight c-car.” Tony didn’t care; he had made up the rules, anyway. “But. The Cy-Cyclone.” His breathing was ragged but he was still trying, Tony cheered him on. “Had my own cart – ticket kid let me ride… saved up my – my seat.”

There was a moment of complete silence. And then Barnes let out a feral scream before he stopped completely.

“Still there, Robocop?” Nothing. “Barnes? Barnes? _Bucky?_ ” A soft whimper came from inside the room. Tony unlocked the door and, ignoring every self-preservation instinct he ever had, stepped in. “Bu--”

“I’m still here,” Barnes whispered. Then he looked up at Tony. His nose had stopped bleeding but there was still a red trail running down his mouth. His eye, though. His eyes were completely clear. “I’m still here,” he repeated.

Tony’s knees gave out on him, and he sagged to the floor next to Barnes as complete and utter relief washed over him.

-

Ever since the Big Gay Revelation there was one thing on Tony’s mind that had been bugging him ever since. He found Barnes looming sadly on one of the thousand gardens of the palace and decided that, fuck it, if he wasn’t going to kill him, Tony might as well take some pleasure in watching him squirm.

“I was thinking,” he announced himself, although he was pretty sure Barnes had already noticed him, if the fact that he didn’t even blink at Tony was any indication. “It must have been really awkward, the whole,” he wiggled his fingers to help make his point, “love triangle thing.”

Barnes stopped looking at the flowers as if he were on the cover of an Evanescence album and finally glanced at Tony. “What do you mean?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “I mean you, Manchurian Candidate, Cap and Aunt Peggy,” he explained.

“You know, I understand that you’re insulting me, but you do realize I have no idea what those names you keep calling me mean.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you a list,” Tony waved dismissively, he’d done one for Steve, he could just copy and paste. “Back to the matter at hand, how did you handle your boyfriend having a girlfriend?”

Barnes narrowed his eyes at him. “Aunt Peggy?”

Tony huffed. “Do you always answer a question with a question? Oh, wait, now I’m doing it.” If Tony didn’t know better he would said that what he saw on Barnes’ face was the beginning of a smirk. He groaned. “Anyway, she’s my godmother. So yeah, Aunt Peggy,” he explained, not knowing if Barnes was asking because of the title or because he didn’t remember her.

Tony was almost expecting him to ask why he wasn’t at her funeral. But Tony didn’t do funerals, especially when it was family. He didn’t go to his parent’s, his uncle. He wouldn’t break tradition now. But Barnes said nothing.

“Enough about me, you killed my parents, I have the right to know shit about you.” This time around Barnes seemed to be too annoyed to even lose color at the mention of Tony’s folks. “How did you handle your boyfriend having a girlfriend?” He asked again.

Barnes shook his head. “What boyfriend? Pal, d’you forget it was literally illegal.”

Tony frowned. “I thought you were together.”

“Yeah,” Barnes confirmed. “Steve’s not my boyfriend, though, ‘cause y’know, _illegal_.”

“So you weren’t exclusive.” Tony snorted. “Pretty forward for the forties.”

“I don’t even know what you mean right now. Look, we both knew what was coming for us.” Barnes’ eyes were suddenly very distance. “If it wasn’t the War, we’d got ourselves some girls, eventually. Live next to each other. It’d be just the same.”

“You mean you’d let some poor – no, two – poor women waiting as you banged. Classy.”

Barnes shrugged. “We make do with what we have,” he commented offhandedly. “Not that different from the army, actually. Steve did get more tail than the rest of us back then.”

Tony’s eyebrows shot to the stratosphere. “You’re joking.”

Barnes let out a low chuckle. “You know, these past two years – the stupid museum –” he shook his head. “Y’all talk about him like he’s some paragon of virtue. With that body of his? Fella had a line of dames waiting for him. But he really liked Carter, guess that’s why he never slept with her.”

“And it didn’t bother you?”

“Nah, he always told me what he did to them.” This time, the smirk was real. “And then I’d do it to him.”

“God, you’re breaking America.” Tony did his best to look scandalized.

Aaaaand, Barnes turned moody again. “That’s the problem with you people. You know, under that stupid costume? There’s a man in there. That’s it.” Tony was about to launch into a speech about Steve’s super-human abilities, but Barnes continued when he opened his mouth. “He’s just a person. He shits two times a day, he’s gotta pee a lot ‘cause he drinks water like it’s going out of style. He drools on his sleep. He can’t get drunk no more, but he got real handsy when he did.” Barnes studied his nails as he spoke, his voice going soft on the last bit. “The night his ma died he cried so hard I thought he was gonna join her.”

Tony was speechless, which rarely happened to him. But – he never thought… Even after knowing Steve for some years, Tony never really _saw_ him. Heck, he’d put The 40-Year-Old Virgin on Cap’s list as a joke, and was disappointed for a whole week after Steve watched and made no comment on it. Tony had thought he hadn’t gotten the joke. But the joke was all on him, he saw now.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

It was Rhodes.

“Tony, we have a big problem.” He drawled the word big and Tony’s stomach dropped to his feet.

“Famous last words. What happened?” He glanced at Barnes, who wasn’t even trying to pretend he wasn’t paying attention. Tony knew he could hear Rhodey as well as Tony himself.

He was about to ask Rhodes if he could call later, he had a feeling he knew what was coming, and Tony did not want to be this close to Barnes when it hit. But Rhodes didn’t know he was facing imminent death and spoke away.

“It’s Steve.” Because of course it was. If he was dead Tony was soon to follow, because Barnes’ jaw was locked tight enough to hurt. “He’s been at the Raft since he came back,” Rhodes explained. Ha, funny. Tony just realized Steve and him had a James, though Tony didn’t want to fuck his. He tuned Rhodey back before he lost track of what he was saying. “There hasn’t been a word about him until now.” Both Barnes and Tony held their breaths. “Ross just released a statement. Steve’s going to be trailed tomorrow.”

“You gotta do something.” Barnes was on his face out of the sudden.

“Tony, is that Barnes?” And how Rhodey could recognize a voice he’d heard like once was beyond Tony. “What the hell, Tony?”

“First of all, you’re breathing my air,” Tony said to Bucky and waited until he took a few steps back before addressing Rhodes. “Second, yeah, Frankenstein’s monster’s here, so, if you value my life you better keep on the update about Cap.”

On the phone, Rhode sighed heavily and Tony could just picture him pinching the bridge of his nose. “There’s not much else to say, except, well, he – he doesn’t have a lawyer.”

"He doesn't have a lawyer?" Tony asked incredulously.

"Tony, I don't think," Rhodes hesitated on the other line. "I don't think we fully realized what the repercussions would be."

Barnes was hyperventilating at this point, Tony couldn’t really blame him.

"What do you mean?" He asked as dread crept up his spine. Steve was a stubborn mule. "He didn't ask for one, did he?"

"No, Tony. Nobody wants the job." _What?_ But Tony waited for Rhodey to elaborate. "He's - people are saying - they're associating him with Barnes, and they're saying he’s a traitor. Tony, he's being charged with Treason."

-

It took a lot of arguments from T'challa and, surprisingly, from Tony himself, to persuade Bucky not to go after Steve.

"He always comes to save me," Barnes had tried to argue.

"Things are a little more complicated this time," Tony had explained.

He finally agreed to stay put after they said he would probably put Steve in more danger if he showed up. But he still looked like someone had kicked his puppy – repeatedly – when Tony left him.

-

And so, the next day, it began.

For three days he watched as the prosecution dissected Steve's entire life. Because of course the whole thing was being televised like fucking Big Brother.

Steve was accused of being HYDRA all along. They said his mother was a communist. And Tony didn't even understand what they tried to pin on Steve's father. 

All the while Steve remained quiet. He didn't even look mad about what they were saying. It was like he wasn't even listening. 

Of course, all that calm went to shit when, on the third day, they finally started to talk about Barnes, who alternated between watching for hours without blinking and not even leaving his room for some days. He was very different from Steve, who’d, no doubt, have broken the TV by now.

The prosecutor had just started to read the list of the Winter Soldier’s assassinations, and Steve looked like he was about to have a stroke.

"I can't watch this," Barnes announced before leaving the room.

On the TV, the woman had finished and gave the floor to Steve.

"James Barnes never chose to join the army. He never chose to fall from the train, he certainly never chose to be tortured for seventy years and made into a--" Steve's voice failed. It took a few seconds until he finally cleared his throat. "Sorry," he mumbled. "A weapon. He did not choose that. I made my choices and I'll bear the consequences, but he's innocent. He's a victim in all of this. And if you're going to blame someone, it should be the person who dragged him into this."

Tony made the math; it didn't look like Steve was talking about HYDRA. And judging by the fact that, after being rescued from the POW camp that first time, Barnes had probably been asked if he wanted to leave and didn’t. Of course, he wouldn't leave Steve behind. One plus one equals co-dependence. Steve was telling the whole fucking world to blame what happened to Barnes on _him_.

Tony wasn't the only one to reach that conclusion.

"You're saying you'd trade places with Barnes?" The prosecutor asked.

Steve nodded. "I'd have traded places with him in 43’, when he got the letter, or when he was captured the first time. I'd have done it in 45’ and all those years after. I hope you never have to feel this, ma'am. There's nothing worse, aside from his actual pain, than to watch someone you love suffer"

There was a second of complete silence and then a collective gasp.

"Fuck," Tony breathed. He could not believe what just –

Tony understood then, why Steve hadn't even tried to defend himself. He had already made up his mind. He was going to sacrifice himself to save Bucky.

And of course, of course, that was the moment Barnes chose to come back. "What happened?"

"I think Steve just outed himself."

-

For the next couple of days, the press was all over Steve’s declaration. The commotion was so big the judge had decided they would all benefit of a two-day recess.

During this time there was no word from Steve, which was justifiable since he was probably still locked up. And Barnes was pacing like a caged animal every time Tony saw him around the palace.

“Seriously, go watch some TV or something,” Tony had suggested. “You’re killing me here, Winter Menace.” Barnes had only stopped long enough to glare at him. “Have you heard of Game of Thrones?”

Luckily for Tony’s sanity, the Dora Milaje kidnapped Barnes for a sparring session and Tony didn’t have to see his angst face for the next twenty-four hours.

All the while, Tony had other things to keep himself busy with.

He ambushed one of T’challa’s mechanic engineers and showed him the drafts on the arm he had sketched a while ago.

T’challa had found them surrounded by blueprints of all kinds on the first night of the recess, and Tony was surprised to find that the king was a lot more than just his royal good looks.

None of them slept that night and, when sunrise came, there were three different models of arms for Barnes to choose from. They decided they would approach the subject with him that night.

Barnes’ reaction was not at all what Tony had expected.

 “Why are you doing this?” He asked, pushing the blueprints as well as his untouched dinner away from him. “Why are you helping me?”

Tony had also found out that day that Barnes had been seeing a psychiatrist since the day after he’d been out of cryo. It was the price he had to pay for staying in Wakanda. Tony didn’t understand why he would accept T’challa’s help but refuse his. He owed Tony more than he owed the king, and if that was the only way to get through him Tony was not above playing dirty.

“I have daddy issues,” he smirked. If Tony was to be honest with himself, he would have to admit he had known, from the moment that Barnes had put the gun in his hand, that he wasn’t going to kill him.

Not that Tony made a habit of being honest to himself.

As for why he was helping Barnes… Well, Tony had been a prisoner of war for what it was like, a blink of an eye, compared to Barnes. And really, what had been done to the kid was just wrong.

“You’re insane.” Barnes frowned, but he couldn’t hide his amusement. 

“Probably,” Tony agreed. “But that’s not the point.” He pushed the papers back to Barnes, which resulted on him having to practically lie down on the table, since they were sitting in opposite sides and the thing was huge. “Now, pick one.”

Barnes reluctantly studied the blueprints.

“They’re all made of Vibranium,” T’challa explained. “But they ought to be lighter than your last model.”

“They look –” Barnes ran his fingers lightly over the print until he stopped at the shoulder of the bottom one and tapped at it. “There’s no mark.”

Tony knew what he meant. No Star. Nothing branding him.

“I could always put a Stark logo there if you wanted.” The joke fell flat and T’challa looked at him unimpressed. Barnes didn’t raise his eyes from the paper.

“It’s a fresh start, Bucky,” T’challa tried to assure him. “You deserve one.”

Barnes finally looked up at them. “This one looks nice,” he commented, tapping at the bottom design again.

Tony let out a breath he had not realized he’d been holding. “Excellent!” He rubbed his hands together in excitement; he hadn’t played with metal in a while. He had some muscles he needed to stretch, things he needed to remember, stuff he hadn’t done since the first Iron Man suit. _Oh, the possibilities!_

Tony inhaled the rest of his dinner and grabbed the blueprints from the table. “Wait until you see this beauty, you’re gonna love it!” He shouted at Barnes as he stormed out of the dining room and made his away to the labs.

-

Three days after the return of Steve’s trial, and after the public’s most expected question had been asked:

“Are you sexually involved with James Barnes?”

“Yes.”

“And how long have you been sexually involved with James Barnes?”

“1934.”

Tony soon realized just how bad things were looking on Steve’s side. He realized also that he hadn’t been the only one to reach that conclusion, when he received a video call from Natasha and Sam Wilson.

“We have to put Barnes on the stand,” Natasha suggested in a way that was more like an order than anything, after they had been discussing for almost an hour and hadn’t gotten anywhere, but established that a)Tony was a dickhead, thanks Wilson and b)Cap was too stubborn for his own good. Breaking news, Natasha.

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Sam commented with a snort. “Except for the fact that they’ll arrest his ass the moment he steps out of Wakanda.”

“He doesn’t have to,” Tony imputed, catching up to Natasha’s plan. “We can Skype it.”

“You wanna Skype the trial?” Sam asked incredulous.

“Why not?”

“ ‘Cause it’s a _trial_ , not long distance cyber-sex.”

“You seem to know a lot—”

“Can we get back to Barnes,” Natasha cut them and both Sam and Tony snapped their mouths shut. “We’re Skyping it.”

“Yes,” Tony celebrated and the two pairs of eyes on his screens rolled at him. He shrugged. “Okay, I think I’m going to chime in on this.”

“That’s the worst idea ever!” Sam complained. “You’re parents—”

“Nah, I’m not gonna mention mom and dad—”

“They will—”

“I’m gonna talk about the Accords,” Tony continued as if Sam hadn’t said anything. “That’s the whole reason they’re doing this, isn’t it.”

“I don’t think—”

“No, listen! I’m going to try to shut it down, like we should have. Yes, Wilson,” he addressed the pointed look Sam was giving him. “I see now the bad decision I made.”

“About damn time.”

“That’s all very nice, Tony,” Natasha drew back before they started arguing again. “But I don’t think they’ll just listen.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Tony smiled and pretended not to see both Sam and Natasha cringe. “They’ll listen. I’ve a gift.”

-

Barnes did not share Tony’s confidence on the whole testimony thing.

“What if we make it worse?” He had asked.

“How? It’s not like they can kill him twice,” Tony countered, and then he actually thought about it. “Or maybe they can. Technically, he _did_ already die. So that would be a third—”

“Or,” Barnes cut through his rambling, “they can _not_ kill him at him at all. You know that’s an option he can lose, right?” He shook his head. “I’m not gambling with his life.”

Tony inhaled and exhaled slowly, bracing himself before going through some very thin ice. “He is doing this for you, you know that, right?” Barnes opened his mouth, but Tony wasn’t done yet. “Barnes – Bucky, things are not looking good for Cap right now. But you, you know him more than anyone else. All that stuff you told me,” Tony said as he pointed at the computer monitor, “You need to tell them that. You have to show them who he is. You have to show them _your_ Steve Rogers. You’re the only one who knows him,” Tony admitted at last.

Barnes was very, very still in front of him, and Tony was expecting the situation to go on one of two ways, a) he was going to snap and finally kill Tony, or b) he was going to break down crying. Either way would, most definitely, end up with him doing a runner for Rogers and turning the whole thing into an even bigger mess.

Tony had certainly not counted with option c, which was Barnes simply nodding as he sat down in front of the computer and asked, “What do I have to do?”

-

T’challa and Tony both had to pull a lot of strings to get Judge Simons, the woman presiding Steve’s trial, to agree to their Skype call; and after an almost two-hour call negotiation, she finally relented.

It was clear, the moment the call came through and their faces appear on the screen, as well as the court room, that Steve had not been informed about it.

Tony actually saw the color run out of his face as confusion gave way to something akin to desperation when Steve’s eyes landed on Barnes’ through the screen.

“Buck,” he breathed, clenching the wood on the witness bench so hard Tony was pretty sure he heard it crack.

Barnes was slightly more collect beside him. Slightly.

“Steve, I –” his voice was croaky and he was suddenly blinking a lot faster than normal. “I’m sorry.”

Steve made a chocked up sound on the other side and that was Tony’s cue to interfere before they both broke done sobbing for the whole world to see.

“Excuse me,” he cleared his throat to call attention to himself. “Your honor, can we proceed like we agreed?”

Steve finally realized there were other people in the room besides Barnes and turned to look at the judge and then at Tony. “What’s going on?”

Ellen Peterson, the prosecutor, offered him the smuggest smile she could muster. “Stark and Barnes are going to testify.”

“What?” Steve all but shouted, before predictably turning to Barnes. “Buck, no,” he pleaded.

Barnes shook his head. “Shut up, punk. I’m doing this.”

There was a teeny, tiny hint of a smile on Cap’s face and he nodded to Barnes.

“Alright,” Tony cut the tension with a loud clap. “I’ll go first.”

“Actually,” Barnes interjected, “can I?”

Tony looked at the judge to see if she had any objections, when she showed none he shrugged at Barnes. “Be my guest.”

Barnes took a deep breath. When Tony glanced at him he noticed his hand was shaking. The new arm had been ready for a few days, but Barnes had refused to even acknowledge it before Steve’s situation had been dealt with.

Tony could understand his reluctance. It would take an absurd dose of anesthesia to keep him down long enough for the arm to be implanted, considering they had to attach stuff directly into his spine and brain, and wasn’t that one of the most disturbing discoveries Tony had made when he was studying what was left to of the original prosthetic.

He was dying to see how his less invasive model would fare.

But that was something for later. Right now they needed to put their efforts into saving Cap from the firing squad.

Barnes’ shaking had worsened while Tony was lost in thought, and he had yet to open his mouth. Tony nudged him gently. “Go on,” he prompted softly, just for Barnes, though maybe Steve could hear him too. “Tell ‘em.”

Then he just acted on instinct because why the hell not… and took hold of Barnes hand to stop the shaking.

“Barnes swallowed and finally looked at the screen. “I met Steve Rogers when I was seven years old.”

For the next forty five minutes the world finally met the man behind Captain America. They met Steven Grant Rogers, Brooklyn troublemaker. They met his nerdy friend, James Buchanan Barnes. When the prosecutor tried to interrupt Bucky asking for the relevance of his story, the judge herself shushed her on accounts of character building or some other crap.

Tony could see she was just as hooked up on the story as the rest of the people watching it.

Once Barnes was done Steve was on the verge of tears. “You remember,” he let out softly and Barnes just smiled at him. Tony had seen the scans; with the two years out of cryo and with no wipes, Barnes’ brain was probably on the path of full recovery. Physically speaking, of course; Tony couldn’t even begin to phantom how he was psychologically.

Tony glanced at him and shrugged internally. Stable enough not to go on a killing spree. Perhaps therapy was working for him. Whatever it was though, it was win on Tony’s books.

The judge ordered a fifteen minute recess for everyone, herself included, to collect themselves. When their connection was reestablished, the floor was Tony’s.

And he didn’t waste time with pleasantries.

“The Accords are a ruse, and I see it now. Do you fine folks,” Tony began, knowing full well he was being broadcasted to the entire world, “knew the US government was about to nuke New York into oblivion when yours truly mightiest heroes saved the day? Did you know SHIELD had a nasty little Nazi bug growing up its butt all those years?”

The prosecutor cleared her throated, and Tony knew full well what was coming next. “Ultron?” She asked with an arched eyebrow.

Tony raised his hands in surrender. “You got me.” He pointed his index finger at the screen. “ _That_ one’s me,” Tony admitted. “The whole thing,” he gulped. “My fault.”  Some nights he could still remember the vision of all of his friends dead, of Steve voicing Tony’s deepest fear, that he’d finally done it, he’d let them down.

And wasn’t that the irony? He almost killed Steve. He put in danger the lives of all the people he cared about. Fuck! He’d acted purely on his guilt for the death of a kid and he’d put _another_ kid on the line of fire to prove his point. Tony was so lucky Parker walked out of that airport alive. Jesus Christ, Tony was going to pay for that boy’s entire education carrier _and_ his eventual offspring’s, just to make things even.

The only actual Avenger slip up had been entirely Tony’s fault.

“Let’s be honest here for a moment. Ultron’s the only time the world doesn’t have to thank the Avengers for saving it. And that is my responsibility. I –” Tony swallowed hard. “James Barnes is a prisoner of war.”

“Tony,” Steve said softly, but Tony ignored him, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to continue. He didn’t even dare glancing at Barnes.

“When we were sent to arrest Steve Rogers and the rest of the Avengers siding with him, we received information about an actual global threat, which we – which _I_ chose to ignore it. Steve was trying to prevent something far worse than what happened.”

“That’s all nice, Mr. Stark, but you are putting yourselves above the law,” The judge shook her head and the prosecutor nodded in agreement.

Tony shifted on the chair. “Look, I’m all aboard accountability. We’ll write all reports you want. _I’ll_ pay for any damage we cause. But we can’t just act like the bad guys are going to send us a save the date before attacking again.”

The prosecutor opened her mouth but Steve beat her to it. “And trying to prevent something before it happens by threatening everyone’s life is just as wrong.”

 “Stubborn, punk,” Barnes snorted softly. Tony didn’t even have to look at him to know that there was a fond smile on his face.

Tony nodded. “Exactly,” he agreed to both, but kept his attention on what Steve said. “We cannot wait for a hundred and seventeen countries to be on board before acting. You know we’re not vigilantes, we step in when the stakes are too high for anyone else.”

On the screen, Tony could see Steve’s jaw practically hit the floor. He had to fight hard to suppress a snort. Rogers had such little faith.

Not true, though. Tony had a letter on his desk back home to prove it, but anyway. Steve was still making a funny face.

The judge considered Tony for a few excruciating minutes. She looked from the Tony’s face on the television to Steve and back to Tony before finally addressing the rest of the court, which contained representatives of all the countries that had signed the Sokovia Accords.

“I’m proposing a revision of the Accords, in which the Avengers are free to,” she arched an eyebrow at the screen, “save to world whenever there is a global threat, since they are,” this time she looked at Cap, “the most qualified for it. However, to act on situations in which the safety of the planed and all its inhabitants are not at risk – that is to say, in regards to local threats – the Avengers are only to be allowed to act if the local government do so permit or ask for their assistance. Is that clear?”

Both Steve and Tony nodded in agreement.

“This agreement is between the world and the group presently known as the Avengers. Other enhanced individuals not associated with them, acting on their own accords, are still considered vigilantes, and thus not protected by the same laws. Unless approved by the Avengers… _unanimously_.”

Tony shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Cap?”

“I’d like some time to read the new terms, your honor.”

“Very well. The new terms should be approved by the United Nations _and_ the Avengers. Otherwise, well, I suppose will be seeing each other again. As for the charges against Steven Grant Rogers, they are hereby dismissed _with_ prejudice.” She looked at the television, directly at Barnes. “Mr. Barnes, I believe the world owes you an apology.”

Steve nodded vigorously at the, but Barnes himself didn’t seem all that chipper about it. To be honest Tony wouldn’t be surprised if later he said he hadn’t heard a word of what she said, considering Barnes’s eyes were glued to Steve.

With one firm rap of the gavel the Judge declared the trial over. Tony lost connection the second after, although he suspected it was more a case of being cut than actual bad reception.

His phone chimed a moment later with a text.

 _I’m really proud of you_.


	3. Chapter 3

The one hundred and seventeen countries took two days to decide about the new Accords. Thankfully, they all agreed to the judge’s stipulations. There was only one thing left to make it official.

The Avengers had to agree on it.

Tony had suggested another Skype session, but Natasha argued that was something they had to do face to face. The rest of them agreed with her. Tony had never been more scared.

They were going to be together in the same room again.

Since they had all been scattered around the world they chose to hold the meeting in Wakanda, after confirming with T’challa. Tony also made a point of asking him to be present. If anything, it might force them to behave in front of the host.

He was scared shitless about the whole thing, so it was obvious he wouldn’t be sleeping the night before they were due to arrive. He knew Barnes wouldn’t be doing any sleep himself so Tony decides they could do insomnia together.

He knocked on Bucky’s door a few minutes after midnight.

“On a scale from one to Bruce going full on Hulk, how bad do you think this is going to go?” Tony asked as he entered.

Tony had been surprised when he got the text from an unknown number – Natasha – saying that Bruce was back in town; whatever town that was.  Thor was the only one unaccounted for. And Peter, but Tony was keeping Parker out of this if he could help it.

“Who’s Bruce?” Barnes asked in return.

“You don’t know Bruce? You should know Bruce, he’s nice.” Then Tony considered the last time he had tried to talk about feelings. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t talk to him about the heavy stuff; he’ll either fall asleep on you or turn green, which is just as bad. Have you seen the Hul–”

“Stark,” Barnes stopped him, “you’re rambling. You nervous?”

Tony scoffed. “Why? Why would I be nervous? Is not like I hurt every single one of them,” he deadpanned.

Barnes just rolled his eyes. “You know, you’re a lot like Steve. You both carry guilt like a fucking armor. Besides,” he got up from the bed, walked towards Tony and placed his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Look at us,” he snorted. “If you can deal with me, you can deal with ‘em. They’re your family.”

And wasn’t that the thing. Somewhere along the way Barnes and Tony had bonded. There was no reason whatsoever for Tony to have stayed in Wakanda for this long, but he had lost almost all of his friend in one go. And he felt so fucking guilty about Rhodes it was hard to be near him.

Tony had long stopped using the _to kill or not to kill_ excuse about Barnes. He was just… comfortable there. T’challa accepted him. Barnes was actually good company. The three of them had some sort of weird connection going on that made Tony feel at ease around them.

He hadn’t felt like that in a long time. A part of him was mourning the fact that it was about to end.

But Tony was still himself and he was not about to tell all that to Barnes. “Yeah, that’s easy to say when’s not your face they’ll probably punch.”

Barnes shrugged all smug. The asshole. “I’ll take some punches for ya.” Then he turned serious, the smirk falling from his face, though he was still looking at Tony with a complete open expression. “I owe some.”

Tony didn’t really want to dwell on that stuff, not if it wasn’t to blackmail Barnes with some sarcastic comment, but he supposed they should get that out of the way. And it would be a lot better to have that conversation while Cap wasn’t around.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself, as he sat down on the chair by the desk. Barnes sensed his mood shift and sat down on the floor in front of him. Tony didn’t like the way that made him stand over Barnes, but he didn’t voice it. Barnes seemed to be comfortable like that anyway.

“Look, I – I owe you an apology,” he began.

“You really don’t,” Barnes argued already shaking his head.

“No, listen. I judged you harshly.” He thought about how he couldn’t understand why Cap was acting the way he did. “Steve too,” he added. “What happened, it –” he inhaled shakenly. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“It doesn’t feel like that,” Barnes mumbled, not looking at Tony. “I remember it so clearly. I – part of me knew he wasn’t a stranger,” he confessed. “But my brain was hotwired to comply and I had to get back.” He shook his head. “I feel so _stupid_. I should have runaway, I should have stopped, I shou –”

“Have you tried before? Running away?” Tony inquired in a small voice, not really sure he wanted to know the answer.

Barnes nodded anyway. “I think it was only one day. They caught me right after. I don’t really remember where I was.” He cocked his head. “I remember what they did, though.” Tony thought he was going to elaborate but he closed his mouth after that. It didn’t really matter though, not with the haunted look on his face telling all Tony needed to know.

“It’s all water under the bridge now,” Tony declared after a few minutes of silence.

Barnes finally looked up at him. “I’m sorry I killed your parents.” I should have been comic, it sounded comic when Tony thought about it, but when Barnes said it? It really, really didn’t.

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat. “You know what, Terminator?” The dramatic pause had more to do with him collecting himself than trying to make a scene. “You’re forgiven.”

“Thank you,” Barnes breathed out.

Tony nodded. “I’d say _any time_ but, you know…” He smirked.

Barnes stared at him for half a minute. Then he let out a loud snort.

Tony could only hope stuff with the Avengers would go as well as what just happened.

-

The quinjet arrived a lot earlier than Tony had expected, or been ready for.

Natasha, Sam and What’s-His-Face with the ants where the first ones out. Clint was probably the pilot so Tony was expecting him to be last. Then Bruce came right behind the trio – along with Vision and Wanda – looking all calm and collected. Tony envied him a little.

T’challa was greeting the group but Tony’s attention was all on what he knew was about to happen.

He heard Barnes’ sharp intake of breath before he even saw Steve stepping out of the jet. Then what had once been Bucky Barnes beside him turned into a dark blur as he made a runner directly into Cap’s arms.

Tony watched as Barnes clung desperately to Steve, and Rogers slowly brought his arms up to encircle him, as if he his brain hadn’t yet absorbed what was happening.

But Barnes didn’t seem fazed. On the contrary, he looked like he wasn’t about to let go of Steve for the next century.

And Rogers, well Steve was – Steve was crying. Tony had seen Steve cry a total of two times and the first was _that_ day, when he confessed he knew about Tony's parents. Now the tears were running freely down his face while he held Bucky as if his life depended on it.

Tony took a step closer – he couldn’t tear his eyes from the two men –  and realized that no,  Steve was not crying. Steve was _sobbing_ – openly – his whole body shaking with the force of it. Tony was starting to fear he'd pass out from lack of oxygen.

After a few seconds, Barnes stepped away from the iron grip hug, but still kept Steve at arms’ length with a hand on his shoulder.

"Steve... you gotta breathe, pal," Barnes said gently. "Come on, just like me," he coaxed, taking deep breaths himself.

Steve did as he was told. He took a few deep breaths to steel himself and then something behind Barnes caught his eye. That something being Tony, of course.

“I thought –” Cap breathed. He frowned from Tony’s face to Barnes’. Tony realized what it must have been going on in his head. Even if Steve had seen them together during the trial, he was only now realizing Tony wasn’t going to kill Barnes.

The last time they had talked to each other Tony had made clear he wasn’t above it.

Barnes turned his head back to glance at Tony, and then he looked back at Steve to whisper something too softly for Tony to catch. But Cap nodded and seemed to relax a little. Whatever Barnes said it work to calm him down.

Predictably, Barton was stepping out of the quinjet after Steve. Unpredictably, his entire family was with him.

“Family vacation,” he explained with a shrug when Tony arched an eyebrow at him.

Tony let out a short laugh but on the inside, he was almost melting with relief. He could still see the betrayed look Clint had given him, could still hear his words. He’d thought that if a punch was to come his way, it would come from Clint.

But Barton just threw an arm over his wife’s shoulders and followed the rest of them inside when T’challa called.

“Before we begin,” Tony said once they were all settled around a huge mahogany table. “I’d like to say sorry for the Ghost of Accords Past.” He looked at each one of them in the eyes as he spoke, leaving Steve for last. “I fucked up royally with you and I’m sorry.”

There were a few grunts and a few nods, but nobody said anything until…

“So did I.” Steve, like Tony had just done, ran his eyes around the table and left him for last. “I dragged you down into my mess and left you to pay the price,” he admitted, with his shoulders hunched forward, he looked smaller than Tony had ever seen him.

“Look,” Wilson cut the awkward silence that had ensued. “You’re both idiots.” Again the rest of them nodded in agreement. Typical. “But we’re family.” He turned to look at Cap. “And you didn’t _drag_ us, Steve. That’s what family does, they have each other’s backs. And they fight,” he said that looking at Tony. “Maybe not every family causes an international incident when they do but—”

“What Sam means,” Natasha cut him, “with all this rambling is that you’re forgiven, both of you. Now let’s get on with business before Barton starts to cry.”

They all turned to look at Clint, who was indeed on the verge of tears. Bruce gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder and Barton told them all to fuck off.

“Ok,” Tony clapped his hands. “First things first. All in favor of T’challa being officially a member of the team say aye.”

“Seriously?” Ant-Guy asked.

“Yeah, you too, I suppose, Ant-Person.”

“Man, Ant- _Man_ ,” Lang corrected between gritted teeth.

Tony ignored him. “So?” He looked at T’challa, but the king seemed to be waiting on their verdict.

“Aye.” Vison was the first one to vote.

“Aye.” Wanda was second and then they were all agreeing on something for the first time in years.

“And the Accords?” Vision asked once they had welcomed the new members.

“They sound good to me,” Clint offered. “Rhodes’s also on board,” he added. Tony knew that. Rhodey had sent him a text explaining his absence. Something about an important meeting. Tony would question it later.

“Steve?” Natasha arched an eyebrow at Cap. Barnes was not at the meeting, he didn’t even want to hear when Rogers suggested about being an Avenger, claiming he was done fighting. On his absence, Natasha was the best qualified to make things civil with Cap.

Tony had been so sure, after the trial, that things were starting to get back on track. The new Accords were a lot better than before, Tony had to admit. But, nonetheless, Steve shook his head.

Tony felt his stomach drop to the floor.

“I can’t sign it.”

“Steve,” Sam drawled out a sigh.

“No, let me explained,” Cap shot back raising a hand to stop the upcoming argument. “I can’t sign it because I’m stepping out.”

“What?” Tony shouted in surprise. Oh, God, what had he done? “Look, Cap, if this is because of the shield… I’ll give it back to you. It’s yours.” He was getting a little desperate there, please, someone had to chime in and tell Tony he hadn’t broken Captain America. God, his father was rolling on his grave right now.

“That’s not it, Tony.” Steve shook his head again. Tony glanced around and saw that each one of them was in some level of shock. _Nobody_ had seen that coming.

“But, Steve.”

“I signed up for a war in 43’ and I never saw the end of it.” Steve had an expression on his face Tony had never seen before. Or perhaps he just hadn’t paid enough attention. “I’m tired,” Steve confessed at last. And Tony could see it now. On the way he held himself, in his eyes. Even his hair looked sad.

“Steve, are you alright?”

He was expecting the quick dismissal. That was not what he got.

“No,” Steve admitted, “Haven’t been for a long time.” Wanda and Natasha, on either side of him, acted in synchrony, each taking hold of one of Steve’s hands. “I wanna go home.”

And wasn’t that a Deja-vu Tony was having. He could swear he had heard those words before, with just that amount of sadness and –

Barnes.

“You know what? He’s right,” Tony agreed, to collective surprise. He turned his attention to Steve. “You’ve been Cap for a long time, haven’t you?” Tony jerked his head towards the door. “There’s someone out there who’s been missing _Steve_.”

Steve’s eye widened in surprise, because contrary to what Tony might want to think about him, he was not stupid, and he understood just what Tony meant.

“Tony, I—”

But Tony wasn’t finished. “And the rest of us?” He opened his arms to encompass everyone in the room. “I mean, we don’t even _know_ the guy. I’d like to meet him.” Then he arched an eyebrow because he was still Tony Stark and he had a reputation to maintain. “I’ve heard things,” he smirked.

Steve laughed. Wasn’t this a day of firsts.

“Are you sure about this?” Natasha asked Steve, bringing them back to the matter at hand. “If you don’t sign this,” she pointed at the document on the table, “they won’t let you help. Even if you want to.”

Ca- Steve nodded. “I understand it’s a hard decision. But I can’t keep doing this.”

Tony knew that there was more to it that Steve wasn’t saying. Somewhere along the way in this new world, especially in the last couple of years, Steve had started to realize the fight he’d been fighting wasn’t as black and white as before.

Besides, Steve was the actual poster child for PTSD (Tony would know); and every single one of them ignored the fact that he had a) just come out of a war and b) lost everyone and everything he’d ever known. Including the love of his life, but they couldn’t possibly have known that, so okay… Then they had just all joked about his age and thrown him to the front line, when, in reality, Steve was actually the youngest of them.

They didn’t really do Steve Rogers a lot of favors there.

Tony got up and extended a hand at him. “Tony Stark, nice to meet you.”

Steve eyed his hand with suspicion for a few seconds before shaking it. “Steve Rogers,” he played along. There was a genuine smile on his face. “Pleasure.”

-

With the Accords updated and everything else settled there was really no more other reason for Tony – for all of them – to stay in Wakanda any longer.

Nobody mentioned leaving.

When they left the meeting room they found Barnes waiting on a chair outside. He stood up right after the door was opened.

“Didn’t hear any shouts or anything. I’m impressed.”

Steve snorted. “Shut up.”

Tony shared a look with Wilson. Wasn’t that interesting?

Then Barnes seemed to remember something and his features softened. He approached Steve and brought his hand up to cup Steve's cheek. "Did you know we can get married?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Stevie, we can get married!"

“Buck, I – do you want to?” Rogers looked like a deer caught in the headlights. His eyes were wide and Tony wasn’t all that sure he was breathing.

“ _What?_ ” Somebody whispered behind Tony, and yeah, he had completely forgotten nobody else knew about the most tragic love affair since Romeo and Juliet.

He didn’t have time to make a joke, though. Because then Steve was kissing Barnes like it was V-Day all over again. Someone else – Barton, Tony saw this time – wolf-whistled.

They broke apart with a loud smack.

Tony couldn’t see Barnes’ face but Steve was grinning from ear to ear.

“Marry me.”

-

The low grunt woke Tony up about two hours after he had finally managed to shut down his brain. Ugh, so unfair. He lay still for a few minutes trying, and failing, to go back to sweet unconsciousness when he heard it again.

A moan.

“ _Steve_.”

The word followed the sound and Tony’s eyes shot open when he realized what he was hearing. Oh Jesus, Mary and poor bastard Joseph. They were--

Tony tried not to listen, to focus on something else, but it was a lost battle now that it had caught his attention. And out of the sudden, his pajama pants were a little on the tight side.

Oh, no, no. He was not jerking off to the geriatric porn across the hall, _damn it_! He tried thinking about someone else. Pepper. Beautiful Pepper. It had been so long since they did anything, but Tony could still perfectly remember the last time and… nope, not helping.

He reached blindly for his phone on the nightstand.

It took some time but when Tony finally fell asleep again, he did it like a moody teenager: still horny, while listening to heavy rock.

-

T’challa, who was too nice to the lot of them, offered the palace as wedding venue and suddenly they all had a reason to stay for a little longer.

The day after they dispatched the signed New Accords to the UN – there wouldn’t be a ceremony this time – Barnes finally accepted the new arm.

Tony found Steve in the waiting room of the medical center once he left the OR, having finished his part in the procedure, which had basically been to explain to the doctor where to attach what.

He sat down on the plastic, surprisingly comfortable, chair next to Steve.

“Just a couple more hours,” he informed, just to start a conversation. Steve acknowledged with a nod. “He’ll be fine,” Tony tried again.

“I know.”

“What’s eating you, then?”

Steve shifted on his seat. “I don’t know. I can’t turn it off. I guess I’ll be worried about him for the rest of my life,” he confessed. Considering what they had been through, especially Barnes? Tony couldn’t blame him.

“Listen, Steve.” He waited until Steve looked at him to continue, “What happened between us? I’m sorry about it. About all of it. And you know I – I forgive you, too.” Tony’s mind went back to a conversation they had had at Barton’s farm. Gosh, it felt like a lifetime ago. “You warned me about your dark side.” He nudged Steve’s shoulder gently. “I didn’t believe you.” Then, because they were already there, Tony confessed, “I thought you were going to kill me.”

Tony could still remember. He was sure his heart had stopped for a second. He had faced death many times, but he had never expected to come from a friend.

Steve gulped, he looked away, but then he seemed to think better of it and turned his face back. “So did I.”

It was scary, and a bit heartbreaking, to hear him say it. But Tony acknowledged it. “You’re really not who I thought you were.” Steve’s face fell, clearly remembering the last time Tony had said that to him, but Tony continued, “I’m glad.”

Rogers nodded. “I shouldn’t have kept you parents’ death from you, though,” he confessed. “It was wrong. And Tony, you don’t have to hide, you know. What you feel” Rich coming from him, but Tony didn’t want to spoil the moment by saying it. “We got your back.”

Tony swallowed hard. “Thank you,” he breathed out. Then, to break the tension…“And, for the record,” he added, “Barnes and I are cool.”

He considered a bit before opening his mouth again, but Tony supposed Barnes and Steve didn’t have that many secrets to each other; it wouldn’t cause any harm saying it – and he desperately wanted to lift the mood so…

“Oh, and you owe him a dance.”

Steve snorted a laugh way too loudly for a hospital, but they were the only ones around so, again, Tony supposed it was alright.

“Yeah,” Steve drawled out with a grin. “I’m known for doing that.”

They spent the next hour in companionable silence waiting for the surgery to end, and Tony felt lighter than he had in years.

They would be okay.

-

Natasha and Sam had a very colorful argument over who would officiate, since they were both ordained, which was, well, whatever in Sam’s case, but really fucking surprising in Natasha’s, though she didn’t care to elaborate on the how’s and why’s.

In the end, Nat won, but Sam got to be ring bearer since he was Steve’s best friend... _after Barnes, of course_ , Sam had added quickly after a particular murdery glare from Terminator.

T’challa was the one who designed their rings, much to Tony’s disappointment, after he acclaimed to have discovered something about the polarization of Vibranium on his first fight with Bucky.

The next thing Tony knew it was show time.

“James,” Steve began. Barnes cocked his head to the side and offered him what was clearly a _really?_ look. “Shut up, I’m doing this properly.”

Barnes snorted. “Steve, I got a Johnson instead of breasts. You’re not doing this properly.”

“Children,” Natasha scolded at them and they both apologized quickly.

Steve started again.

“Buck.” But he had to stop to take a deep breath. From his front row seat Tony could see how shining Steve’s eyes were. “I love you, and I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. And I wish – I wish I had better words, something fancy to offer you.”

“ _You don’t have to,”_ Barnes mouthed, but otherwise didn’t try to interrupt.

“But I don’t. All I have to offer you is myself, and if you would have me. We’ve come such a long way.” Steve's voice was hoarse with emotion, but Tony doubted he was seeing anyone besides Barnes in that moment, and embarrassment was probably the furthest thing from his mind.  “And I know maybe I’m asking for more than you could give me—”

“Shut up,” Barnes shook his head vehemently. “Enough with the nonsense,” he chided, cupping Steve’s face firmly in his hands. “You _know_ you’re all I ever wanted, Rogers. And I –” he inhaled sharply, “I do.” His grip on Steve’s jaw tightened and Tony cringed in sympathy, though Steve seemed to have hardly noticed. “I _do_. God fucking Christ, Stevie, I do.” He turned to Natasha. “I do,” Barnes nodded at her. Then back at Steve. “I do.”

Steve had lost the fight against the tears by the second _I do,_ and was now openly crying on Barnes’ hands, but he had the brightest smile Tony had ever seen on his face. It was downright blinding.

“She’s not following protocol,” Sam stage-whispered at Clint.

Tony glanced at them just in time to see Clint roll his eyes. “Stop whining, Wilson,” he hissed back. “You lost, get over it.”

Wanda shushed them.

Tony was pretty sure Natasha had heard the whole thing, but she had her attention completely focus on the grooms.

“Steve,” she prompted with a smile and a perfectly raised eyebrow.

 Rogers blinked at her like he had just noticed she was there. He acknowledged her with a curt nod and turned his attention back to Barnes, bringing his hands up to rest atop of the ones on his face.

“I do, you know that I do,” he stated firmly, despite the river running down his face. Then he added softly, “I’m with you ‘til the end of the line.”

They both turned to look at Natasha.

She shrugged. “Oh, don’t mind me. You’ve skipped half of this stuff,” she glanced down at her note, “anyway.”

“You gotta make it official,” Sam hollered and Clint jabbed his elbow in his ribs. “Ow!” Sam cried out.

Nat rolled her eyes. “By the power vested in me.” She shot Sam a pointed look. “And Wilson’s helpful reminder. I declare you two relics, finally and officially, married.” 

“Excuse me.” Tony raised his hand like a middle schooler before Natasha allowed the face sucking to commence. “Shouldn’t you be putting a ring on it?”

Color rose on Steve’s face. “Oh.” He glanced at Wilson, but Sam took a few seconds to get with the program.

Then he was shooting out of his chair and stumbling to the altar. “Rings coming.” He deposited both bands on Steve’s palm and received a muttered thanks before getting back to his seat.

Steve passed the slightly smaller silver band to Barnes before taking hold of the metal hand, planting a kiss on the back an slowly sliding the ring on the right finger. “Love you,” he whispered.

“I will never hurt you again,” Barnes promised as he placed the ring on Steve.

“Ok, _now_ you’re free to –” she hesitated slightly. Tony could see as she physically swallowed down the joke as she glanced at Steve’s and Bucky’s faces. They were looking at each other as if they couldn’t quite believe what was happening. Tony supposed they were having some kind of epiphany, since they had both gone through most of their lives believing this would never be possible. It was clear why Nat couldn’t just joke about it. She smiled sweetly at them instead. “You are free to kiss your husband.”

And oh boy, did they.

If Tony quickly wiped a tear away, no one was looking at him to tell.

He knew this wasn’t a magic solution. He knew Bucky Barnes still had a long way to go. But they were all alive. And fuck, the way the serum worked, Tony suspected Steve and Barnes would have enough time to make things alright, especially now that they were both, at last, officially retired.

Tony glanced at the people around him. They were all a little bit damaged, a little bit crazy. And Tony loved every single one of them, because they fit together like the world’s most bizarre puzzle.

He did miss Rhodes like a fucking lost limb though, but Tony understood when he had said he couldn’t make it to the wedding. Rhodey had just stepped up as Secretary of State after Ross’ early – or too fucking late, in Tony’s opinion – retirement.

Tony was going to send him some embarrassing picture later. Rhodes had made him promise.

Tony watched as Barnes threw his arm over Steve’s shoulder and nuzzled his neck. Rogers made the most pathetic attempt to get him off of him Tony had ever seen. The whole thing was so sweet it almost gave him diabetes.

And even though both T’challa and Tony had offered a place for them to go, Steve and Bucky had yet to decide what they were going to do with their lives from now own. Wanda said they had to go on honeymoon, Thor suggested Asgard (he’d showed up for the wedding), Bruce the Amazon forest. Bucky had his eyes on Australia though, and Steve – oh, Tony was a fucking sap – Steve only had eyes for his man.

-

Since the wedding took place on the lawn behind the palace, by the river with the giant panther monument, it was obvious someone – or better, everyone – would end up falling in the water.

The first one was Sam, pushed by Natasha, who dived in right after. Barton was third, and Tony would swear to his dying day the man had tripped on his own two feet before toppling over the edge. Though it could just as easily have been Wanda’s doing.

She was helping one of Clint’s kids film the whole thing while Laura laughed her ass off, making Nathaniel giggle along on her lap.

Somebody – Tony’s money was on Scott – had given Barnes a bouquet as a joke, but he took it seriously and made everyone get out of the water and line up, before turning his back on everybody and throwing the thing at them.

It fell on Tony’s hands.

Someone cleared his throat behind him and he caught Barnes winking at him as he turned to see who it was.

“Are you planning on using that?” Pepper asked with a shy smile.


End file.
